


Play Nice

by Editress



Category: Game Grumps, Ross O'Donovan - Fandom, RubberNinja - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 01:43:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19241296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Editress/pseuds/Editress
Summary: Ross makes a new friend, Lucy, but quickly takes her in after her abusive boyfriend kicks her out. He slowly comforts her back to her normal self, gradually falling in love with her and coaxing her to allow herself to love him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The way this book was made is divided into acts, then chapters. For simplicity, every act is submitted as a chapter, and every chapter is named.

**_The Last Day With Him_ **

The last day Lucy ever spent with Henry was her last day on the East Coast. It wasn’t really a pleasant day, but it was one that was a long time coming. She had met Henry after a beloved boyfriend had broken up with her without proper explanation. This was after three weeks of silence from him, during the time she was fed rivers of rumors, each running deep, that she denied feverently, believing only the best of him. She met Henry when she needed a shoulder to cry on, an ear to vent to, a soul to talk to. He had started out wonderfully sweet, and eventually, once she had gotten over and moved on from her beloved, she started dating Henry.

Henry was a lovely and gentle man. She wasn’t sure when he had stopped being so wonderful, so perfectly marvelous. However, she did know that she wanted out, and eventually, she bought a plane ticket and was ready to leave him. During this last week, he managed to turn her torturous life into actual hell. There was non-stop screaming, the kind that shook the walls with every roar. There was no flake of gentle left, no sign of his once lovely self. The last day she spent with him, he managed to take a swing at her. The impact on her cheek was startling and powerful, spinning her onto the floor.

She cried. He started to comfort her, but the damage was already done. He begged her to take him back, but she was already done. His pleas lasted to the airport, where he asked one last time if she could give him one final chance.

The next morning, Lucy was alone in California.

 

**_Then They Met_ **

Being alone didn’t last long for Lucy. She moved into an apartment close near a college. Her neighbors weren’t party animals, but rather the type to shout and cry studying or doing homework. After every meltdown or outburst she heard, she would make brownies, or cookies. She walked down to the room where they were having troubles to deliver the treats.

After a while, the neighbors knew her well. She was the lovely one who brought cookies and brownies. She became a tutor to some, a stand-in mother for others. She was generally accepted. For the last few months, this was her favorite thing about her apartment. This had been the best thing about moving to California.

The worst part would be ending up in another relationship like Henry. Frankie started out so sweet, and so kind. He made her dinner, and he was so gentle with his words and touch. Eventually, it molded into an emotional dictatorship. If he wasn’t happy, it was torture to see her happy. If he was happy, it was contrarian of her to not be. If he had an opinion that she didn’t agree with, she was the bad guy. This was how things now worked. Somehow, she was back with another Henry named Frank, and she wasn’t sure how to escape.

She found herself sitting in a coffee shop. She sat there, manuscript in one hand, red pen in another. Soft, gentle breaths. Patience and peace radiated around her, except a very aggressive man in line. He shouted down at the small barista lady until the other barista, a large and masculine man, gently pulled her hips into his and asked the man across the counter, “what’s the problem, bro?”

The man had left, but not without shouting more obscenities. It was a whole scene that both seemed unfazed by the whole thing. Who didn’t seem unfazed was a man who stood slightly behind the other man. He was tall and thin, attempting to apologize to the duo behind the counter on his behalf, despite not knowing him.

He seemed sweet. She waved him over to sit next to him, inviting him to a more peaceful environment. He noticed, cautiously walking over to meet her. “Hi,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Lucy,” she answered, “and yours?”

He seemed to blink, but embraced it. “I’m Ross,” he said, smiling sweetly. “What are you working on?”

She lifted her manuscript to him, letting him see the red pen marks. “I’m editing this,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked, scooching closer to her. He tried to read part of it, but found himself immediately intimidated by the massive wall of text. “Oh, wow, what is all this?”

“It’s a narrative essay,” she answered. “One of the boys in my apartment is trying to get his english degree, and for his last grade, this must be perfect.”

“What’s it about?” he asked. “Can I ask?”

“It’s a really pretty story,” she answered. “It’s this boy who broke up with his girlfriend, and then he realized that he could totally be a millionaire if he can just take care of this cat, so he does.”

Ross smiled, a bit skeptical of her description of the essay was. “So, this is like a story?”

“A fictional narrative, yeah,” she answered. “The cat is meant to represent himself, as in his spirit or whatever, and his house is his body. His dream of being a millionaire in the book is the dream of being happy. The key is to make these connections more clear to passing readers.”

He nodded, a frown forming on his lips, as if he was embracing his inner English professor. He looked again at the wall of text, his eyes refusing to focus on the words, on the letters, on the ink. He looked back to her, and he smiled. Her face seemed to glow in pride. He watched as she beamed at him. “This is really cool,” he said, not really interested with it but feeling how genuine she was with it made him feel bubbly.

“What do you have, a sketchbook?” she asked, “are you an artist?”

He offered the sketchbook to her, flipping past the first few to ones he was more proud of. He watched as her eyes widened, starting at each pencil mark as if she would be tested on it, or as if it could save her from her horrors. “I do animations,” he said, pointing to one particular cat-like female character, “and she’s one of the characters.”

“That’s so cool!” she chirped, turning to the next page of sketches. She bumped his shoulder with hers. “You made all of these?”

His chest swelled with pride, his shoulders seemed to square, and he definitely felt himself subconsciously sit up. “Yeah, you like them?” he asked, as if it was nothing incredibly special.

She looked at him like it was incredibly special. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she gasped, “I can’t imagine how long it must take to animate something like this. How do you do it?”

He smiled. “Very slowly,” he said, proud of himself for such an unhelpful answer.

“This is wonderful,” she said, her eyes glued back onto the page. She turned another, allowing herself to be enraptured within the art. “If I could do something like this,” she seemed to mutter before turning back to Ross, “This is fantastic, I don’t know how you do it! You’re so talented!”

His jaw felt sore from smiling so much. He was happy to share contact information with her, and once he got to his little desk at the office space, he found himself texting her, sending her a small little sketch of another character. He smiled again at her enthusiastic reply.

  


**_Ross Practices Flirting_ **

From Ross’s perspective, he had met a small and enthusiastic woman who knew nothing about him being famous. He wanted to keep her like this, but at the same time, he wondered what she was really like. He wondered if she was good at video games, or if he’s ever heard of the game grumps. Maybe she’s heard of Suzy.

His mind swelled with sudden fear. If she found out he was famous, what would she do? Would she become one of those girls who only dates someone for their fame, or their money? What if she was only interested in money and fame? What if she didn’t really like him for him? What if she didn’t like him?

All the thoughts cleared, and in place, a plan began formulating. He wouldn’t tell her anything, and he would take her places where nerdy people usually don’t go, and he would flirt with her so she would like him for his charm-

Ross hadn’t flirted for a long time. He was floored. He rose from his desk and approached his friend Barry, dragging his chair behind him, letting the wheels roll under him. “Barry,” he said, sitting down close to him, as if sharing a secret, “can I ask a favor?”

Barry looked skeptical at his friend. “Please, don’t make me play your new Mario Maker 2 levels,” he said.

“It’s not that,” he said. He licked his lips and thought of the best way to phrase what he wants to say. “How do you flirt?”

Barry made a face. “Ross, are you going to try and seduce me?”

Ross leaned back in his chair. “No, it’s just,” he whined, hoping the right words would come to him. “There’s this girl, and I think I like her, and-”

“Be yourself,” Barry said instinctively, but started quickly back tracking. “Don’t torture her with horrible Mario Maker levels, or terrorize her or anything, but be nice, and compliment her,” he clarified.

Ross stared at Barry. “Feed me pick-up lines,” he demanded of his friend.

Barry laughed. “Google some, damn!”

Ross pushed on the floor, rolling back to his desk. “Fine!” he shouted. He shook the mouse, waking up the screen, and immediately googled pickup lines. Then, because he didn’t get exactly what he had hoped for from Barry, he began reading the lines he found out loud to him. “Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I’ll give it back,” he nearly shouted.

Barry groaned, feeding Ross with the confidence to continue.

“My friends over there bet me I couldn’t start a conversation with the prettiest girl in the bar. Want to buy drinks with their money?” Ross read, searching for another. “Can I take a picture of you? I want to show Santa what I want for Christmas.”

Barry groaned, sinking his head in his hands.

“Your eyes are like IKEA, Barry. I get lost in them,” he continued to read. “Kiss me if I’m wrong, but dinosaurs still exist, right?”

Just then, he felt a pair of lips press into his cheek. They were wet, as if recently licked sloppily. Arin had just kissed him, rather passionately, too, if you were to look at him. Arin looked up at Ross as if he had been reading off the lines to him instead of Barry. “Oh, Ross,” he said, imitating a high-pitched woman’s voice, “please, tell me more!”

Barry started to lose it, and Danny, who was watching as well was starting to lose his stone face completely as well. Ross groaned. “Ew, gross.” He wiped his cheek with his sleeve. “What do you guys want?”

“If you really need girl advice, then for the love of god, Ross, be yourself,” Danny said. “The worst thing for any girl is to learn later on that the guy she fell for wasn’t who she thought he was.”

Ross nodded, absorbing the advice in silence, and suddenly turned to his sketchbook and started drawing feverently. After a while, there was a decently well-made sketch of a cartoonish woman resembling her likeness. Once satisfied, he took a picture and sent it to her number.

After a few minutes, she replied. Her words were carefully chosen, but well articulated. He could feel the excitement from her text message. Her genuine glee brought butterflies and bubbles into his stomach, a feeling he was now welcoming.

He wanted to say something back. He wanted to have a full blown conversation while he worked on his animations. He couldn’t think of any. Instead, he said, “I can’t wait until I can show you more of these. Maybe over coffee sometime?”

“Sometime soon, I hope!” she wrote back to him.

Ross smiled wide. To his friends, it was as if he had came up with a brilliant way to torture each of them. Perhaps he had designed a perfect hell for each of them. Suzy recognized that smile, though. It was the same smile she would make reading Arin’s love letters. Ross had a love-interest.

 

**_Napkin Confessions_ **

They met again, and both were very excited. They nearly buzzed like bees to the coffee shop, their knees bouncing, their heads swimming. Ross had billions of butterflies in his stomach. Lucy felt like the sun was rising.

And then the sun rose for Lucy. Ross walked into the coffee shop. He smiled as his eyes landed onto her figure, sitting alone for coffee. “I’m so glad you could make it,” he said, sitting down next to her. His eyes traveled over her body, and out of impulse, he let the words “you look so beautiful” slip from his lips.

Her cheeks reddened. “Awe, thank you, Ross,” she cooed, “I can barely get any compliments from anyone, let alone men.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Ross huffed, offended on her behalf. “Men these days.” He huffed dramatically. “They must be blind, that’s the only solution.”

She bumped her side gently into him, then decided she could do better, wrapping her arms around his frame, pulling him closer to him. His arms secured around her, hugging her so tight, she was nearly pulled into his lap. She relished in the warmth. “Thank you,” she said, her voice slightly strangled. “The one thing I miss the most is that nobody hugs each other as much anymore.”

“I should introduce you to my friends,” he said, “just about all of them are huggers.” His thoughts drifted from her small frame to his friends. Questions drifted through his head. Would she really like his friends? Oh, but sure she would. Would they get along? This was different, they might not.

She lifted her chin, keeping one cheek pressed on his chest. “Would you really introduce me to more people?” she asked. “You’d really want to do that to yourself?”

Ross was confused. His face scrunched, his eyebrows furrowed, and his grip loosened as his brain wrapped itself around what she could mean by that comment. “What do you mean?” he asked, giving in to the confusion.

Her eyes searched his, finding only sincerity and confusion. She shook her head, dismissing his question, and in turn, redirecting the conversation. “The world needs more men like you,” she spoke into his shirt, hugging into him one last time before letting go.

Ross released his arms reluctantly.

“If there were more men like you,” she said into her coffee, lips less than an inch away from the brim of the cup. “If there were, I might stand a chance with one.”

Ross felt his chest tighten, his cheeks and ears felt like they were on fire. His mouth felt suddenly dry. Was he beginning to sweat? He could feel his hands shaking. The stars were aligned themselves, creating a pathway from the heavens to bless this forming union before him.

Her eyes drifted back to his. “I wish my fiance would learn a lesson or two from you.”

 

**_Concern Grows From Ross_ **

Ross and Lucy had become great friends. Through his friendship with her, he noticed a few small things. There was a behavior forming. There was a theory brewing. She would jump if he raised his hand suddenly. Mean words were accepted and expected, but nice ones were not expected, and often perceived as lies. She was eerily used to people being rude or harsh to her. She was forgiving to everyone. She refused to cry. She couldn’t believe that anyone would want to show her off to their friends. Worst of all, the absolute worst of it all, was a craving of physical confirmation. She craved hugs, and would apologize when she took one from Ross, as if it was a burden to him.

She had outright confessed earlier that she was in an unfavorable relationship. “I know he’s cheating on me,” she said calmly, “I’ve even met the woman in the hallway of the apartments.”

“Why stay with him?” Ross asked, munching on the coffee shop’s coffee cakes. He had gotten one for Lucy as well.

“I’m not an idiot, Ross.” She took a long sip and said something completely idiotic. “I know I have nowhere to go.”

His face distorted with his disbelief.

She continued. “I told him I knew he was cheating on me, too. He told me I was crazy,” she said. “I may be crazy, but I know damn well when my fiance is sleeping with another woman.” She sipped her bitter coffee.

“Lucy,” he pleaded her name.

“I may be crazy,” she said suddenly, “but I’m not insane!” She was desperate to justify herself to Ross.

Ross couldn’t think of the right words to say. He only just learned that if he spoke too loudly with her, especially when alone, she would freeze. He couldn’t think of the right words. The scooched closer to her, their legs touching. His arm rested behind her on the top of the booth seats. He welcomed her to seek cover in his side.

She swung her legs on top of his one leg. Her head fell onto his chest. Her coffee was sat down on the table, and she plucked his arm off of the chair to further wrap around her. She hugged him into her. “How did everything become like this?” she asked.

Ross began rubbing circles on her shoulder. “You should leave him,” he said.

She nodded. “I would love to,” she said. She nodded again, “I would love to if I had anywhere to go, but I don’t.”

Ross could think of a million other places she could go besides staying with her fiance. He frowned, his stomach smoothing a bowling ball as it rolled about. He wanted nothing more than to free her from where she was at this moment. He tried to speak, but his mouth dried.

He couldn’t help her, It was the worst.

He talked to his friends about it, keeping her name anonymous and her condition vague. “What do I say to help her?” he asked Suzy as he rested his head on her shoulder. They had turned to a therapy type talk on the couch. Arin slowly pacing the floor before Ross and Suzy, who sat on the couch. At some time, in a classic mother move, Ross kept his hands in his lap as Suzy held his head to her shoulder, petting his head, rubbing his back.

“You just have to be there for her,” Suzy said wisely. “You can’t force her to rely on you, but you can easily show yourself to be a sturdy shoulder to lie on.”

Arin continued to pace. His hands seemed to search for answers in his beard. They came empty handed. Suzy’s words seemed so suffice, but in reality, her answers were just as confused and lost as his would be.

Nobody knew what to do.

 

**_Crying At Ross’s Door_ **

For whatever reason, after finishing a very late-night stream, he heard whimpering and crying just outside his apartment door. After growing the courage to determine the source of this noise himself, he found Lucy, collapsed at the door, crying hysterically. His dramatic opening of the door caused her to fall in front of him, where she curled up and continued to cry more.

Ross pulled her onto him, allowing her arms to wrap themselves around his neck. Tears fell onto his neck, defeated cries fell into his shoulder. She shuddered, as if she had just come in from the cold. Her legs trembled like a newborn deer during an earthquake. Whatever had just happened, she needed him. She needed anyone, but the fact she came to him was important.

He pulled her onto the couch, curling up with her. Her breathing evened out, her shaking stopped, and her tears paused. Her eyes were red, her nose and ears pink. Her grip shifted from a desperate hanging on his shoulders to allowing Ross to hold her into him. She rested her hand on his chest, tracing small circles, triangles, squares, and other shapes.

Ross absentmindedly kissed her forehead. His eyes were kept onto her, and he watched as she tensed for a brief moment, only to melt and relax further than before. She buried her head into his chest, allowing for his hands to wrap up around her tighter. She could feel Ross playing with her hair. She could feel Ross tracing similar shapes onto her back as she was tracing onto his chest.

She felt safe, for a moment. She felt calm, for a moment. Then, it changed. As sudden as the weather sometimes changes, she was back in a panic. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized, “I have to go home.”

“Back to him? No,” Ross argued, refusing to let her leave his arms.

The tears started again. “You don’t understand, Ross. I have to go,” she said, struggling in his grip, “I have to leave, Ross.”

“Tell me what happened, then,” Ross asked, holding onto her, resting his head in the crook of her neck. She smelled like heaven, and he could tell she was living in her own hell. “Please, talk to me, tell me what’s going on.”

“He’s going to kill me, Ross,” she said, desperate to flee his arms. “I don’t want him to hurt you, please!” She struggled one last time to caving, her body shaking and her ragged breathing started all over again. “I don’t want him to kill us both,” she sobbed.

Ross hugged into her, a desperate clinging action. “He won’t touch you,” he promised. He rubbed her back, pulling her closer into him. He felt her arms snake around him, pulling her even closer to him. He swung a leg to entangle their legs. He was practically on top of her at the moment. “I won’t let him touch you,” he said, “I promise, nobody will hurt you ever again. Never ever again.”

The crying slowed and the hysteria faded. She jumped at every sound she heard, jerking Ross awake every time. They didn’t bother to move themselves from the couch. There were shadows in the windows, rationally from the tree standing outside, but in Lucy’s mind this was an invader, this was Frankie, and he was going to cause harm to her.

Every time Ross woke up, he found a struggle to be mad at her. His rude awakenings were little more than a slight inconvenience that allowed him to soothe Lucy back to sleep. He was never awake for more than a few seconds, but that brief moment was all Lucy needed. He squeezed her into him, holding her firmly against his chest.

By the time Ross finally woke naturally, the sun was shining through the window into his eyes. She was asleep in his arms. He felt bad about waking her, but he needed to eat. “Good morning,” Ross said, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead. “How did you sleep?”

“I started sleeping when the sun started to rise,” she answered honestly.

The two smiled at one another. Lucy seemed forever grateful for the company last night. Ross was feeling much better about being able to help his friend. Then, however, just to trouble his mind, he thought about something different. He thought about Frankie.

He watched her sleep on the couch, wondering how she would handle the day today.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A Tiring Morning_ **

The morning, in Lucy’s opinion, was very tiring. She hadn’t slept last night. She was frightened and in a new environment. She was paranoid all night, but in the security of the damning sunlight, she knew there was no man, woman, or creature in the window that was after her. However, with the morning came societies waking. She had to wake up with Ross. She wanted to sleep, and she planned to. 

Ross let her sleep in. He woke her up a total of three times. Once, so he could let her sleep on the couch. Second, so she would eat breakfast with him. Third, so he could take her to work at the “grump space” with him. She couldn’t sleep in the car, but after she was lead to a couch, she crashed. 

Ross explained to his friends the story of last night, asking his friends to be patient and kind to her, to be gentle, slow-moving, and quiet. Most importantly, he told them that she didn’t sleep last night due to comments made to her by her fiance.

“With any luck,” Suzy said, “he’s her ex-fiance, now.”

“Threatening to kill her because she’s sick of you cheating on someone else?” Arin scoffed. He threw his hands up, taking a moment to walk himself in a small circle to cool down.

Dan nodded, pressing his lips tightly together, looking with great pity over at her. “Poor thing,” he said sadly, “that poor thing.”

Barry hadn’t said anything, but after the explanation, he went to drape a blanket over her. She woke to see him, watching him gently pull the blanket onto her. “Thank you,” she said quietly to him.

Barry looked down at her. He didn’t say anything, but he smiled. He motioned back over to his computer, where he walked to his seat. He kept looking back at her, and she kept her eyes on him. Once he sat down, the message was clear between them both. If she needed him, she could get him. If she yelled, he would come.

All while Lucy slept, everyone around her worked. Ross, although working diligently, looked over and checked on Lucy to ensure she was still fine. Barry would see if she’s still okay any time he passed. Suzy was off in another place, but she had kept her thoughts with Lucy. 

Lucy woke up suddenly as she heard the distressed shouts of Dan and Arin from the recording room. In a shock of panic, Lucy jerked up, searching for Ross, or looking for the source. 

Ross walked to her, taking the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders and used it to pull her into a secure hug. His chin sat on the top of her head. He lead her gently to his chair, where he had her sit. Then, he pulled an extra chair to him. The two sat together, Lucy holding onto Ross’s arm as he drew. She stayed asleep through his light cursing in frustration.

She stayed asleep through another outburst from the recording room. 

 

**_A Better Evening_ **

By the time Ross was ready to go home, Lucy was awake. The two drove home listening to the radio. Lucy watched the world speed by, letting the air conditioning blow on her chest, facing as much of her to the window as possible. Lucy, evidently, very much enjoyed car rides. Ross could see her wide, awe-struck eyes in the reflection of the window.

“Do you want to change the radio?” Ross offered.

Lucy looked over at him, her eyes wider than before. “Really?” she asked, shifting herself to face him more clearly. “You’ll let me?”

Ross wasn’t sure if he should be happy from how cute she was or upset at the implications this left. “Absolutely,” he said, “if there’s anything you’d rather be listening to, change it.”

“I don’t know the channels anymore,” she confessed, a light blush on her cheeks. “I used to live on the East Coast, so I have a few of those stations ingrained in my head.”

“Maybe it’ll be something cool, ya’ know, if it isn’t the same station,” he said.

So she tried one she knew. She expected music, hoped for a song she might have known, one she used to sing with her father and mother when she was a small girl. Instead, she found a news station, talking about small politics that people talk about when they lack personality and hobbies. “This isn’t music,” Lucy said disappointed. She tried another station and got something different; sports commentary.

Ross let a cackle erupt from his throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh,” he giggled. He changed the station back to music, pulling back into his driveway. “I’m live streaming tonight,” he said, jumping out of his car, “are you going to be okay without me?”

She seemed to think about the question for a minute. “I’ll read,” she said.

“Do you want to be a part of the live stream?” he offered, “you could read the chat or just hang out. It won’t be super intense.”

She thought over this offer as well. “No,” she declined, “but tell your friends I said hi for me, will you?”

Ross gave her a small hug and a look at his bookshelf filled with a few books he hadn’t really read. She seemed to gravitate near to the biggest and thickest book. It was one that another woman of his used for pressing flowers. She sat down on the couch and began reading it immediately, as if it was a Game-Boy, and she was a child playing Mario.

Ross’s stream was normal, having long since ironed out the technical errors. Any problems that do arise are easily fixed, and best of all, within seconds. The chat was slow, the turnout was great, and Ross was having a blast playing World of Warcraft.

He noticed, however, one character looked far too much like Lucy. Every time this character was interacted with, he could feel his rage bubble up to the top. He wasn’t even sure what he was mad about, but he was getting really mad about it. Then, after finishing the quest, and finally being done with that character model, it flowed out of him like a pot of wet spaghetti: tangled and confused.

“Men are the worst,” Ross said suddenly, as if interrupting himself, “men are the type of guys that will have a girl fall in love with them only to smack her around like it’ll make you feel more like a man. Men are the type of assholes that exploit a nice girls love by convincing her that if she really loves him, then he’d be allowed to keep being an asshole.” Ross’s face was red, and he started leaning back in his chair, only to spring forward to face the camera, and by extension, the people watching, directly. “Men are the kind of assholes that can’t handle a breakup after they abused their girlfriend, so they convince her that she’s gonna die because of it.”

He took a deep breath and immediately felt better. “I’m sorry, guys,” he said. He jumped back into the game, peeking at the chat to see words of encouragement and sympathy. “Don’t worry,” he told the stream, “I’m gonna take care of this one, don’t you worry about her.”

 

**_Why You Don’t Air Your Dirty Laundry_ **

Ross was about to learn something very important. This was a valuable lesson he could have learned from watching drama unfold through social media. This lesson could have been learned from family social events, or friend-gatherings. This lesson could have been learned at work. This lesson didn’t have to be learned so publicly, but here he was, learning it in the open. Ross was about to learn why airing your dirty laundry, or someone else’s dirty laundry, is always a dumb idea.

His fans were initially very supportive of the outburst. His having a strong emotional response to something as serious as abuse was seen as genuine rage from being powerless to help or do more. Over night, it turned into theory crafting, where fans turned it into his way of projecting. In reality,  _ he  _ was the one who was being abusive, and he wanted it to seem as if he was against it. Then, it turned into he was being abused by a  _ man _ , justifying their theory by claiming Ross was coming out as bisexual, or maybe just curious. 

Ross woke up to a text from Suzy, and a few texts from Arin, and one from Holly, and at least one from nearly everyone he knew. He called Suzy, opting to stay on the couch instead of getting up from his makeshift bed. 

“Hey, Ross,” she bitterly greeted. 

“Suzy, I just woke up,” Ross said, poorly suppressing a yawn. “What’s going on?”

“Where’s Lucy?” Suzy seemed to demand. “That cute little jumpy one you brought here yesterday, where is she?”

“She’s fine, she’s in my bed,” he answered.

“And where are you?”

“On my couch.”

“People online are going crazy over your little outburst,” Suzy explained in brief, “I know that it’s ‘prolly about Lucy, and I get that your mad over what her ex did to her, but you can not let your fans see her while she’s like this.”

“Oh,” Ross huffed, growing defensive. “What do you mean, ‘ _ like this _ ?’” Ross stood, as if she was really in front of him, like she could see how upset that comment made him.

“Ross, she’s jumpy and damaged,” Suzy flatly responded, “she should not have to handle the mob of fans, and she shouldn’t have to justify herself while she’s like this. Let her heal, and for the love of all things good, pure, and wonderful- Ross?”

“Yeah?” Ross answered.

“Don’t say anything else. Let this blow over.” Suzy hung up.

Ross checked his twitter feed for a brief moment, only to see it filled to the brim with mentions, some good, others bad. All of it about his outburst. Some theory crafting, some harsh words. Ross read a good many of them, and by the time he was done, a sickening weight was hung on his intestines, pulling them down to his legs.

Ross wasn’t angry anymore. Ross felt sick.

 

**_Adjusting Well_ **

Orph walked Lucy into the living room, his black tail held high, gently swinging back and forth. Lucy watched with interest and respect, following closely. Orph didn’t jump to Ross, but he did rub against him, saying good morning, before running to his bowl in the kitchen. Lucy, sitting on her knees, watched as he ate the last of his left over dinner. 

Ross filled the bowl up in front of Lucy, then offered his hand very slowly in front of her. He offered a verbal greeting to her. “Good morning.”

She took his hand and returned the formality. “Good morning,” she said, tilting her head, “did you sleep well?”

“I did,” Ross lied, “yeah.”

“On the couch?” she said, her eyebrows scrunched, one arched, “I can’t imagine.” She brushed her knees and gave a gentle pet to Orph. “Next time, I’ll sleep on the couch,” she said.

Ross laughed, refusing to admit that he was actually stiff from sleeping on the couch. “No,” he said, “you don’t have to.”

“Neither do you,” Lucy said, “there’s enough room for both of us on that bed.”

“No,” Ross said, trying to keep his modest friend from his mostly immodest self. “I don’t want-”

Lucy’s eyes were wide, and she suddenly seemed stiff. She was watching him as if he had just threatened to attack her. That was when Ross realized his mistake. He was too forceful with his no, and she was still set on defensive mode, trying to keep herself from being hurt. 

“I’m so sorry,” Ross apologized, opening his arms and keeping his hands low. He didn’t take a step forward, but he let her walk into his arms. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, gently wrapping his arms around her, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lucy apologized as well, “it’s my fault, too. I should know that you aren’t trying to hurt me.” Her eyes soaked his shirt. “I’m just having trouble adjusting to everything. It’s sad, really, that I can’t even handle normal interactions anymore.”

His gently hold turned into a firmer hold, a gentle squeeze. “You’re doing great,” he said, “I promise, you’re doing great.” He felt her shake in his hold. “You don’t have to cry, you’re doing great.”

Lucy looked up at him, pulling her face from his chest. Her eyes were wide, each filled to the brim with wobbly, salty tears. Her nose was red, and her cheeks pinkened from sympathy. Her lip trembled. She looked absolutely pathetic and helpless. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but if she opened her mouth, a wave of sobs would pour out, uncontrolled and uncontained. 

He planted a soft kiss on her forehead, hoping it would grow into confidence and hope that she can control for herself. “You are amazing, and wonderful, and sweet, and nice,” Ross said, holding her tightly to his chest. “I promise, you’re doing great now, and you’re going to find a way to show me what even better looks like,” he said, kissing her red nose, “And I’ll be there for it. I’m going to watch you be the best you there is.” He kissed her forehead again, then held her head to his chest.

She wasn’t shaking anymore. Now she was fine, holding onto him, letting the feeling of safety wash over her. She clung onto him, grabbing his shirt and pulling him further to her. With a little heat and time, the two could be fused. For now, she stopped crying, she stopped shaking, and she stopped apologizing. 

That never used to happened before.

 

**_Date Night_ **

Ross had dressed up in a suit and tie for the first time in a very long time. Sitting in front of him was Lucy, her dress tightly hugging her features, showing every curve and making him sit slightly uncomfortably. His chest felt tight, his stomach was knotted, which aggravated the butterflies that sat inside. Every time she looked down at herself, at that red dress, he watched as her face grew pink, her shoulders slightly raised, her head lowered slightly, and she looked to the side to find Orph. Ross could see in this moment that she looked gorgeous, even in the low candle light.

How this had all started was when Suzy took Lucy out for a girls night. Suzy took her shopping for all sorts of clothes and perfumes, and even though Suzy came home with more things than Lucy, Lucy had more things to say. Ross sat and listened for an hour as Lucy talked about how cool Suzy was, about all the things she learned about makeup, and fashion, and shoes, even. Lucy showed him all the clothes that Suzy had bought her, and said how weird it was that someone had bought her clothes without wanted a return payment. 

Another thing Lucy mentioned was a dress that Suzy insisted that Lucy must have. Suzy told Lucy it was for date nights, and then proceeded to detail her date-nights with Arin. Flowers, roses, candles, music, video games, food, magic, all flowed into her head and filled her mind with stars and dreams. Once Lucy returned home with a small bag of makeup, new heels, clothes, and that red dress, Ross found himself powerless to protest against her wishes for a date night. “I’ve never had them since high school,” Lucy mused, “I’ve totally forgotten how perfect and marvelous they are.”

Ross wanted nothing more than her to look up at him with her big eyes and ask him, quiet and shyly, if he would please have a date night with her. Her head would tilt, and she’d shift and sway, and she’d blush. He lost all sense of patience in waiting for her to ask and he asked himself for her. “Do you want me to take you on a date?”

She did just as Ross had predicted. “Would you please?” she begged, “I’ll cook dinner and set it all up.”

“No, I’ll do all that,” he said, smiling as he started looking through the pantry for something easy to make. “How about you pick a game to play for after dinner?”

She looked ecstatic. For the first time in forever, for the first time since Ross had met her, he was watching her be absolutely thrilled over something. It made him nervous. Now, if anything went wrong, and if she wasn’t absolutely thrilled, it was his fault. He couldn’t ruin this for her. 

So, he made something easy. Spaghetti was close to impossible to mess up. He heated the marinara sauce up in a pot, so anything that boiled would burn onto the pot instead of the jar. He borrowed candles from Suzy, who discreetly dropped them off. As he finished juggling what felt like everything all at once, Lucy emerged from his room, and walked into the kitchen followed by Orph. 

Ross felt the blood drain from his brain and move anywhere but. Her cheeks seemed to sparkle, her lips were painted red like her dress and shoes, and that dress! It may have covered everything, but it bragged it’s ability of holding her, showing her off like eye candy. Ross wanted to jump on her, bury her under millions of kisses. He wanted to touch her, to hold her. He was speechless, jaw hanging open, nearly on the floor.

It carried all the way through dinner, where Lucy seemed oblivious to Ross’s ogling, and more enchanted with the candles and the atmosphere he had worked so hard to make. By the time they were finished their spaghetti, it was time for games. She picked Mario Maker.

 

**_Kiss For Every Level Beat_ **

Ross was trying to be thrilled about her choosing Mario Maker, forcing himself to stop staring at her. He suggested that she play some popular levels first, then he’d show her some of his. Jokingly, he offered a kiss for every level that she beat of his. She smiled, accepting the challenge. 

The first few levels online were really easy. Run in a straight line while intense music played, let mario be forced into the flagpole, and other easy levels. Lucy grew curious about Ross’s. “Mine are more interesting, I promise,” he said.

“Can I play one?” she asked, her head tilting, her eyes widened, looking up at Ross, “please?”

His heart nearly erupted out of his throat. “Yeah,” he choked out. He took the remote from her hands, his fingers brushing against hers. He felt like he was in a cheesy romance degree. He returned the remote to her after giving her one of his levels. 

She died nearly immediately. She looked at Ross and giggled, as if it was fun. Then, she tried again. Then, again. Then, again. It was clear she was struggling. She may have known the controls, but she was lacking the skill. She sucked in a breath, focusing intensely, but died again. She sighed, looking lost and confused, but died anyway. 

Ross was impressed with her ability to keep her cool. With each passing second, he thought more highly of her ability to remain level-headed. Unlike his friends Dan and Arin, who were quickly and easily frustrated, it seemed as though she was much more patient with herself. Despite lacking the skills Dan and Arin had used to beat Ross’s levels, she trumped Ross in a new way: she wasn’t getting angry.

Then, his opinion changed as she died and didn’t start moving. He looked over at her, his smile sinking into a heart broken frown as he watched a tear roll desperately from her eye, landing on her wrist. “I knew I was bad at games,” she confessed, “but I didn’t think I was this bad.” She seemed panicked, as if her inability to finish this level was going to have some type of negative consequence. “Ross, I’m so sorry. I like your level, I really do-”

Ross hugged her, pulling her head into his chest. He felt the floodgates open, and before he could apologise for not warning her properly, he was trapped comforting the crying woman. He felt horrible about it, too. This wasn’t the pain he delighted in extracting from his friends, this wasn’t hating-the-person-who-made-this-monstrosity kind of crying that he was used to. Her crying was a reminder that she wasn’t like him, or his friends. No matter how normal Ross would present this new life, she would still be stuck with the same habits. Everything was her fault, even when it wasn’t, and she would be jumping every time he raised his voice or moved too fast.

She clung desperately onto him, apologizing as if he was about to fault her for insulting his level. Her tears soaked through his shirt. Despite fearing the worst, being in his hold felt safe. He might yell or strike her in a second or two, but at the moment he was relaxing to lay on. His hold on her was gentle and tight. She felt him rub her back. She felt him kiss her hair.


	3. Chapter 3

**_An Interesting Night_ **

The moments that followed after she calmed down from crying were as followed: Lucy insisted that he sleep in his own bed tonight, Ross said he would take the couch again, Lucy swore if he did, she would join him on the couch. When Ross fell asleep making a Mario level that she would be able to play without getting distressed, he didn’t realize she made good on her promise. When he woke up in the middle of the night, just after midnight, there she was, fast asleep on top of him, hugging onto his torso like she had done the first night he took her inside. 

And god damn did he like it more than he thought he should! Butterflies caught fire, just as his cheeks and ears, blood flowed to indecent places, and best of all, her lips were gently, sleepily pressed against his collar bone. She seemingly straddled one of his legs. Ross’s hands had roamed, one in her hair, another on her butt. Laying on top of him proved too much for Ross, and his inability to flee to the bathroom proved an interesting challenge. 

After a few deep breaths, he was ready to admit his defeat. He then decided to imagine her as a guest of the Game Grumps, sitting there as Guest Grumps. She would laugh at Arin and Dan’s jokes, and when they grew louder, she wouldn’t flinch. In fact, she would embrace it, living and thriving in the chaos. She would be confident and strong. Ross could just hear her telling this exact story on the show. She would say, “Ross is the sweetest, but he won’t ever verbally admit defeat in arguments. This one time-” and Arin would cut her off, but she’d shut him up and continue her story. “This one time, when I first moved in with him, before we were really dating or anything, I told him that either we both could share the bed, since it was, and still is, massive, or I would sleep on the couch.”

Dan would make a joke, or Arin a sly comment. She’d continue. “I found him asleep on the couch. He passed out designing levels for Mario Maker, since I suck at Mario. He wanted to make a level that I could play without crying, since instead of getting mad at him, I just cry. He hates it.” It would be true, Ross had hated seeing her cry at something he did. “So, I climbed on him and fell asleep, too.”

Dan and Arin would laugh, finding the situation strange but fitting, and they would find her persistence charming. She’d finish the story, “I woke up back in the big bed, Ross on the other side. He’s the greatest, really. Sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”

And now, that was the goal. His mind switched sharply, and he shifted himself around so he was able to carry her back to his bedroom. Then, he stood up from the couch, turning around to see her asleep on the couch, sprawled out. She looked like she missed the sudden absence of heat, a suddenly saddened expression painted her face. He scooped his arms under her, pulling her into him as gently as possible. He felt her arms instinctively move to hold him. Her hand found his hair and another kept her grip on his shoulders. 

Ross slowly walked through the hallway only to learn how loud the floor was. Each step caused the floor boards to moan, each moan threatening to wake Lucy up. There was no telling how she would react if she woke up in Ross’s arms. Would she panic? Would she hate it? Orph joined in on the noise making and meowed loudly, seemingly knowing how important being quiet was, but not caring. Then the door, creaking as it was slowly opened and closed, leaving Orph outside the room for the night.

Ross gently set her down on the farther side of the bed from the door. The moonlight gently shown in through the window, showing how calm and peaceful she looked. For a brief moment, she seemed to wake up. “Ross?” she asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

He hushed her. “It’s nothing, baby,” he whispered, “We’re going back to sleep, okay?” He climbed over her, collapsing next to her.

Lucy’s groggy eyes followed him, then she crawled over to him, and she cuddled up next to him without a word. He could see a small smile forming on her lips, and before he could stop himself, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled her into him. Their legs tangled, their bodies pressed together. Ross would have to wake up first, or else he would need to answer a very awkward question, or deal with the awkward tension that his visitor would bring.

 

**_Awkward Advice_ **

Ross sat in the Game Grumps recording room with Arin. They were quiet for a good minute, Ross planning the words that he wanted to say. Then, when he found them he struggled to find the courage to ask them. So, instead, Arin decided he would lighten the mood. “So,” Arin said, “you made her cry playing Mario Maker?”

Ross laughed sadly. “I didn’t think she would react like that,” he said honestly, “I’m so used to people being mad that they can’t beat it, and then directing their rage at me, but she just…” Ross shook his head, thinking of how absolutely crushed she was that she couldn’t beat one of his hardest levels, not realizing it was designed to be impossible. “I felt so bad, we just sat on the couch and cried for a good few minutes. That was my punishment.”

Another silence followed. Arin felt the task of lightening the mood falling back onto his shoulders. “So,” Arin started again, “when are you gonna marry her?”

Ross looked right up at Arin and asked, “How did you get Suzy to fall in love with you again?”

Arin was floored. Ross was always a direct person, but he was also confident in himself. A question like this was never meant with the sincerity that Arin was seeing at this moment. “Well, I wrote a letter to her,” Arin said, “every day. I wrote her love letters every day, and I showed her that I loved her no matter what.”

Ross looked as if he was processing this information. Then, he looked back up at Arin. “I don’t think I could do that,” he confessed, “she reads so much. I showed her a tweet before I sent it out, and she fixed my grammar and had me use a fancier word. She wouldn’t like what I make her.”

“What are you trying to do?” Arin asked, shifting on the couch to better face his friend. “Are you seriously trying to get that girl to fall in love with you? Ross, she just came out of an abusive relationship.”

“I know, it’s just...” Ross said, but lost his words in a sigh of defeat. He shook his head, trying to find the right words to use. “She’s wonderful, and precious, and gorgeous, and smart- Arin this girl is so smart! And I want to make her happy, and I want to take care of her, and I want to keep her with me forever, and-”

“Ross, woah, slow down!” Arin held his hands up in surrender. Then, he lowered them slightly. “I understand that you like this girl, maybe a bit more than you should, but keep in mind, she just got out of an abusive relationship,” he said calmly, “I get that she’s sleeping in your bed, but are you sure she sees you as anything more than platonic?” 

“I’m not,” Ross admitted. He seemed to grow more distressed as the conversation continued. “I love her so much, but I have no clue what she thinks of me.”

“How about this,” Arin said, resting a hand on his shoulder and looking directly into Ross’s eyes, like a father would do with his son. “Go and ask her.”

In the other room, Suzy sat with Lucy, who was trying to iron out her feelings. “I think I’m allergic to him,” she said, as if it was a reasonable statement.

“I don’t think so,” Suzy said, “I think you just like him.” She painted another one of her nails a dark matte black color, giving a gothic and spooky feel to her. She looked over at Lucy with a sweet, motherly smile. “I think you love him.”

“I mean,” Lucy said, thinking over the suggestion. Then, she thought a little harder. “I never loved Frankie or Henry-”

“Then why did you date them?” Suzy said, trying not to laugh at the strange situation being described as a common Tuesday.

“Because they liked me,” she answered, “and if I was strong enough, I bet I could have made it work. They were probably the only two who would ever put up with me.”

Suzy looked as if she just had her heart crushed, but she knew better than to interject this confession. Instead, she suggested once more, “are you sure you don’t love Ross?” Her head was tilted, her eyes focused intently, her posture straight and a bit forward, anticipating the answer. 

“I certainly like Ross,” Lucy said, “and if one were to like me back, I wouldn’t know what to think.”

 

**_Failed Confessions_ **

Today was not the day, but Ross thought it was. He made breakfast in bed for the two of them, letting her snuggle next to him while they ate. He shared his ideas about a live stream with all his friends playing World of Warcraft. He took her on a walk around the apartment complexes. He doodled a few of his characters, which Lucy called each and every one precious or gorgeous. Lastly, he was confident and ready. 

It was late evening now. There had been an early live stream with a small turnout, Lucy read in another room while it happened. Ross and Lucy were now snuggled on the couch, but he wanted to move. He was growing nervous, his confidence was escaping. It was do or die, and Ross was suddenly flooded with self-doubt. 

What if she didn’t like him any more than the way friends do? What if all those snuggles and kisses on cheeks and foreheads weren’t as meaningful as they were to him? What if she likes someone else? What if she hates him over this?

A quick text to Suzy asking her to wish him luck made him feel slightly better, but Ross found himself escaping Mario Maker to pace the kitchen. He could hear her progression through one of his levels he made just for her. When she beat them, she moved on to another with her name on it. She would beat them slowly, but it was wonderful to hear how happy she became once she finished a level of his. Just listening to her made him feel less nervous. 

Then, she had paused the game. She walked into the kitchen, holding the counter top. “Ross,” she asked quietly, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ross said, “No, I’m fine! You know me, I’m just stretching! Don’t want to be too stiff!” He stopped himself from pacing but found a new problem now. He felt like he was drowning. A dam had broken and he was drowning himself in his own words. “I’m just so proud of you, I feel like you really improved playing Mario. I bet you’re better than Dan at this point, probably Arin, too. I bet in a week you’ll be able to speed through any of my levels. I mean, it took some people weeks to finish some of my levels. A lot of them still have really low clear rates. I mean, companion vine still has a really low clear rate, and when Mario Maker 2 comes out, I’m gonna do my damndest to get back to the number one spot with the hardest levels in the world.”

“That’s really cool, Ross,” she said, clinging to the counter. “You’re really cool.”

“I’m not, really-”

Lucy fell suddenly on the floor. She laid motionless for multiple seconds, then was shaken by Ross.

Ross panicked. He called her name, then a little bit louder. He shook her, he picked her up. He pressed his ear to her chest to listen for a pulse, to listen for breathing, and found both. Then, he tried to find her pulse in her neck.

Nothing.

Just as he was doing that, she did wake up. Ross looked as if he had seen something horrible. She looked up mildly dazed before growing mortified. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized, “I was trying to get to bed, I stood up and I must have passed out.” She looked around at her surroundings, then back to Ross. “Did you carry me to the kitchen?”

“No, you walked here before passing out,” he answered. He held her up against him, as if she were a weak and fragile woman, or a frail child who had just fallen. “Why did you pass out?”

“Very low blood pressure,” she answered, slightly embarrassed. “I’m sorry. It’s not a problem so long as I can miss hitting my head on anything.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll just lay down here for a minute or two,” she said, touching the cold floor with her finger tips, as if it were a grassy meadow. She looked back at Ross from the floor. “I guess I’m done for the day, though,” she frowned.

Ross helped her to her feet and watched as the color drained from her face and she stumbled again. Her light daze returned with an army of reinforcements, and she seemed like she was either drunk or concussed. Ross suddenly didn’t want her this vertical, and carried her to the bedroom instead. There, he laid her back down and sat with her for a minute. When she returned to her typical self, he looked over at her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” she said, “you shouldn’t have to put up with me like this.”

But he really wanted to. He didn’t leave her side all night, and held her especially tight that night. 

 

**_Waking Up Emotions_ **

The two woke up cuddled together, legs knotted and arms hugging each other. Ross had woken up first. He looked down past his nose to Lucy, where she slept peacefully, using his chest and arm as a pillow. She looked beautiful, and she looked calm, and she looked happy. He wanted this moment to last forever, or to experience it forever, every morning. He absorbed the moment for as long as he could.

Then, she hugged him tighter. With a delightful sleepy moan, she wrapped her legs around one of his, pushing her pelvis against his, their stomachs meeting softly, their chests pressing tighter. He couldn’t handle her touch. He could feel his control slipping away. He needed her to wake up, so the mood could return to soft and lovely instead of the fruit of eden, temptation of sin.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up to him. “Ross,” she moaned, her lips forming a happy smile, still tainted with sleep. Then, her legs flexed outward, and her arms did too, stretching out before huddling back into Ross’s chest without another word.

He gently stroked her hair in an attempt to wake her up. “Lucy,” he whispered, “it’s time to wake up.”

Her eyes flickered open again, settling on Ross. Her arms were still around him, and she used this to instinctively pull him into a brief, quick kiss on his nose. His chest pinched and his body grew hard and rigid. “Have a good day at work, Henry,” she said tiredly, “I promise, I’ll have dinner ready before you come home today.”

Ross didn’t like that. He didn’t know who Henry was, but if he was anything like Frank, he didn’t like him. He kissed her cheek, then her nose, then her forehead. He thought about kissing her neck, but she woke up with a quick jerk that spooked them both. “Good morning,” he said, looking up from the pillow.

“Good morning,” she said, looking down to Ross. She blinked, then blinked again. Then, she spoke slowly. “How are you, this fine… morning?”

“Pretty good,” he said, nodding. “Hey, can you tell me? Who’s Henry?” He asked, pushing his elbow into the pillow and propping his head on his hand, looking up at her. His legs crossed, now free from Lucy’s. He purposely looked ridiculous, hoping that she wouldn’t freak out by this question. 

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Henry, of all men,” she sighed, frowning, “He was an old boyfriend back in Maryland. There was an incident, I left him for California, found Frankie and moved on-” She shook her head and threw her legs over the side of the bed. Her hands held her arms, her thumb gently rubbing. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not like moving here really saved me.”

Ross wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He pulled her back into the bed gently. “I’m here for you,” he said, “and I’m going to be here for you until one of us croaks.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” Lucy asked, “I really don’t deserve it.”

He couldn’t verbalise how much he loved her, nor could he explain how happy he gets seeing her happy, but he knew right now that he loved her more than he probably should.

 

**_Asking Advice_ **

Lucy was confused. Ross was a wonderful guy, and he was perfectly happy to take care of her. He had opened his house up to her when she had nowhere else to go, and he was happy to divee up the housework evenly between them. He was comfortable to sleep next to, and waking up next to him was peaceful. Being in his arms always felt safe and warm. 

She hadn’t really felt like this in a while. So, she went to Suzy while Arin and Danny did their thing, Ross left to animate, and other friends found ways to busy themselves as well. “Suzy,” she said, “I’m confused.”

“I think you love him,” Suzy said, having heard the over-the-top praise of her dearest friend and sadist Ross. “I think if you told him how you feel, you’d be able to make a relationship. I’m sure he’ll take it at your pace, given everything.”

“There’s no way I love him,” Lucy said, “I’m not that dumb, I learned my lesson with Frankie. Guys don’t like me.”

Suzy shook her head. “You’ll find someone great, and I bet you that Ross can show you that guys can be sweet and kind,” she said, resting her hand on Lucy’s lap. “I promise you, Ross won’t hurt you. He made you cry once and he hasn’t gotten over it yet.”

“Still,” Lucy whined, “I don’t want to ruin anything between us. I feel like we’re good friends, and I don’t want to complicate it.”

Suzy shook her head again. “I bet you he probably likes you just as much as you like him,” she said, “in fact, I bet that you two would be a cute couple, just like Arin and I.” She took a sip of her tea, dyed black for a spooky gothic look that matched her outfit one-for-one. “I think he could make you really happy, if you let him.”

“There’s no way I’m in love with him,” Lucy stated forcefully, “that’s final. I can’t possibly be that dumb.”

“Everyone deserves to be loved,” Suzy sang into her tea before taking another sip.

“Adolph Hitler,” Lucy suggested.

“He had a wife,” Suzy answered. 

Lucy frowned. She didn’t like where this conversation was headed. “I wanted you to tell me that it was just a phase, or that it will pass, or that I had allergies or something,” she whined, “not, ‘You’re in love, buck-o,’ type of thing!”

Suzy laughed. “I promise,” she said, “that if you give Ross a chance, you can be happy with him.”

Lucy looked over to her. Unsure of how to handle this new advice, she gently hugged her friend. Suzy quickly returned the hug, whispering, “if you ever need to talk, or want to talk, or just hang out, or anything, I’m here for you.” She rubbed Lucy’s back gently. “You’ll never be in the same position you were before Ross, I swear, you’ll be okay.”

“Suzy, you’re the best,” Lucy whispered back. She clung to Suzy the same way she clung onto Ross. “I wish I had more friends like you,” she said, “I wish I had more friends in general, actually.”

“You’ll do fine,” Suzy said, letting Lucy stand and leave for someone else. “I promise, everything will be great!”

And with those final words of encouragement, she left the room to find Ross. He wasn’t at his desk, which prompted her to ask Barry. Lucy never talked to Barry before, and she was pretty nervous. She shook as she approached him. She planned out what she was going to say before she spoke with him, and when she reached the desk…

“Are you looking for Ross?” he asked. He pointed over to the kitchen. “He went for something to eat. You can go after him if you want.”

She nodded, offering a weak thank you. She scampered over to the kitchen where she met Ross leaning against the counter. His hair was pushed back, and he looked tired from staring at the screen all day. He watched his hand flex and stretch, his other hand holding his can of soda. His profile showed how angular his jaw was, and in this light, his eyes looked like they could burn holes through metal. 

He looked up at her suddenly. His frown morphed into a smile, his eyes softened, and he pushed off of the counter to stand. He faced himself towards her. “Hey, Lucy,” he giggled slightly, “let me show you what I’ve been working on!”

 

**_Sudden Kiss_ **

Lucy walked towards Ross quickly, reaching up to his shirt collar and pulling him closer to her. She pressed her lips against his, and in that moment, she felt heat bubbling up to her face, her chest filled with fluttering butterflies, her feet lift clean off the floor, floating about in space. She felt wonderful, she felt safe, she felt protected. Ross’s hands instinctively held onto her hips, keeping her from falling down. Once she separated her lips from his, she lowered from the balls of her feet. She looked up at Ross, her eyes filled with worry and terror as she realized something crucial: she had no idea what Ross felt about her.

Ross looked down at her for a moment, as if processing the quick kiss that he had been given. Then, he studied her face, gently taking her cheeks in his hands, taking a step closer towards her. In the same movement, he lowered his head, pressed a kiss onto her lips, and let his hands move into her hair and the small of her back. His kiss was electric, and eventually, she was lead to sitting on the edge of the counter. One kiss ended and quickly merged with another, his breathing grew strained, his lips grew hungrier, and his hands traveled to rub her back. He stopped and drew back for a moment to check on Lucy, who seemed dazed and blushed, and she looked like she was about to pass out. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m great feeling,” she said, “I feel great, I feel… wow.” She blinked, her eyes flicking quickly between his eyes, trained still on hers, and his lips, once pressed passionately with hers. She blushed, realizing what she was doing. “I’m sorry, I caught a bit of mind fog.”

He smiled, shaking his head trying to suppress a laugh. “I love you,” he said. Then, he kissed her again, kisses spaced further, slowly melting into one another. He licked her lips. His hands started traveling over her back again, and he instinctively leaned into her, causing her to wrap her legs around his hips impulsively. He was on top of her, his hands refusing to stay put on her body. His tongue explored new areas as well, focusing on forcing her to match the desperate movements of his tongue. Her hands rested on his shoulders, although he could feel how tense and excited she felt in her passive state.

A moan escaped from her. Her eyes widened in horror, and she froze with embarrassment, but Ross didn’t see it like that. He kissed her more passionately. His hands roamed the front of her body. One hand found hers, and he pulled it up to his face, hoping she would start touching him as well. Shakily, it stayed on his cheek, her fingertips just brushed against his ear. Her heavy breathing encouraged Ross further, and his pelvis pressed against hers. She shivered, and suddenly, she tried pulling him even closer to her by his cheek and shoulder. She hummed with delight, her mind spinning and her head growing foggy.

He complied with her apparent enthusiasm, his hands holding her hips to more forcefully press himself against her. His mouth left hers, traveling quickly against her cheek and to her jaw, then her neck. He searched this new area looking for a spot where she would react the most violently with pleasure. Something hard pressed between her legs, but she wasn’t sure what exactly it was, his phone perhaps. Eventually, he realized that anywhere that you’d kiss or lick on her neck, she’d squirm rather violently, trying to pull him further onto him. When he looked up again, he found her with tears in her eyes, covering her mouth with one hand, her other hand still trying to pull him further onto him.

His mind returned to him. He lifted himself off of her and used his thumb to gently brush away her tears. His eyes swelled with concern, searching for reassurance. “Are you okay?” he asked, pulling her up again. 

She nodded, breathlessly. “Your phone is really big,” she said, her mind still clearing from the foggy state that the excitement had brought her to.

It wasn’t his phone.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Exciting Night_ **

Ross managed to keep it together until he got her home, but quickly after lost it all over again. He pulled her gently through the door into the apartment only to suddenly pushed her against it to shut it. He kissed her heavily, locking the door while he grabbed her to lead her down the hallway. Tonight, his neighbors weren’t going to sleep until he was done with Lucy. 

He couldn’t wait to get her in the bedroom, tripping and falling onto the couch he slept on with her once more modestly. Now, he was letting her pull his shirt to her, and he was trying to lean into her as much as he could without crushing her. His mouth attacked her neck, his hands holding hers above his head. Squeaks and moans erupted from her, and he felt her legs wrap once more around his waist, shakily trying to force him into her. She tried to call out Ross’s name, but it was swept away with the rest of the wordless moans.

He bit her skin gently, out of curiosity, mainly. She jerked, her legs kicking up and her arms struggling violently. She squealed and squirmed. He kissed where he has bitten. “Don’t bite me,” Lucy whispered, “please!”

The quiet was over, and Ross’s biting was done as well. His hips bumped irregularly against hers, and he found breathing into her ear was an easy way to have her melt like boiled butter. “Come on, baby,” Ross breathed, switching to rubbing himself against her. Her back arched practically on her head, and he was getting more and more of that mind-foggy-ness with every moan, which was nearly non-stop at this point. 

He felt like he was boiling, which must mean that she was hot as well. Her cheeks were flushed red, and she looked like she was about to melt under him. Ross quickly flung his shirt off of him and down the hallway to the bedroom. He pulled her on top of him for a moment, helping her take her shirt off. He took it from her hands and threw it down the hall with his. Then, he almost stood, pushing her back down onto the couch. He kissed her neck, then her lips again, then back to her neck. He rubbed himself roughly against her, each moan more frantic than the next.

He took his pants off when she started pulling at the belt. There may not have been an attempt to unbuckle those pants, but her whimpering made him feel needy, and he needed to have more of her. He wasn’t sure where his hands were moving anymore, but he knew she was moaning, and he knew she was enjoying it. He kicked his pants off of his legs, rubbing his against the crotch of her jeans. Her moans echoed around in his head. He could feel himself growing harder and bigger, he could feel himself growing warmer and hotter. 

“Ross,” she managed to moan into his ear, “Ross, ah... Ross!”

His head was swimming. He swore in her ear, kissed her neck, grinding harder onto her, and when her hands started to grow less and less enthusiastic, he slowed himself down. When her arm fell from her and her legs grew limp, he lifted himself suddenly from her and looked down at Lucy, who looked white as snow in the face.

She had passed out.

When she woke up again, she was in Ross’s bed, wearing one of his shirts. Ross stayed in his boxers, not bothering to change. In fact, he was reading something on his phone, pacing the room as he read. “What ‘cha reading?” Lucy asked, trying to sit herself up.

“No, don’t sit up, please,” he said, catching her shoulders and pushing her legs back up on the bed, propped up on pillows. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you so far,” he apologized, “I’ll take care of you tonight. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry that I passed out,” she said, “are you okay? I know it can be scary to see that kind of thing.”

He looked at her, a sad smile on his lips and his eyebrows pushed upwards, like a 2D volcano cut in half. “Baby, I’m not mad at you,” he said. He walked over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m fine so long as you’re okay.”

“What are you reading, though?” Lucy asked again, “tweets from your peeps?”

He showed the screen. “I’m looking at how to help people who pass out from low blood pressure,” he said, “I told you, I’m going to take care of you.”

“I’ve never had a guy who wanted to take care of me,” Lucy admitted. She thought on what this could mean, and then she decided on a solution. “If you’re going to take care of me,” she said, “then I’ll take care of you, too.”

“I like that plan,” he said.

 

**_A Strange Morning_ **

Ross wasn’t overly religious. He assumed there might be a god, but never pushed either way. He was understanding and accepting of different religions, and he liked to think he was very tolerant of new cultures and ideals. However, when Lucy woke before him and started reading tarot cards on the bed, he wasn’t sure how to handle it. “What ‘cha got there?” he asked, sleepily. 

“I’m reading how my day might go,” she answered, “so I can prepare.” She laid out the last card from the thick deck in her hand, now staring at three seperate cards. Then, she paused. She looked over at Ross with wide concerned eyes. “Do you not want me to do this?”

Ross shook his head. “No, I mean, I just never saw anything like this,” he explained, hugging her from behind. He looked down at the cards: a heart with three swords stabbed into it, a lovely man-woman couple dancing, and a man lugging seven swords. “What does it all mean?” he asked. 

“I asked how Frankie was, and this was what I was told,” she said, pointing to the cards as she explained. “The three of swords is miscommunication or misunderstanding, the seven of swords is theft or deceit, and the lovers are self-explanatory.”

Ross looked at Lucy. “Why do you want to know how that asshole is?”

“Curiosity, concern, I guess a bit of me hoped we could have stayed friends,” she said, “I might really be dumber than I thought.”

“So,” Ross asked, “what does it all mean for him?” 

“I think it’s more for me,” Lucy said, “When we were lovers, he lied a lot and passed it off as me being too dumb to understand what he wanted or was talking about. Maybe I was, but he didn’t bother to help me understand.”

Ross rested his chin on her shoulder. He looked up to the side of her face, her profile glowing in the early morning sun through the gaps in the curtains. “Don’t say that,” he begged, “I think you’re wonderful and smart and all that.”

She smiled, shuffling the deck once again. “Should I do you next?” She tapped the deck of cards to even out the cards, creating a neatly organized deck in her hand. Then, she laid out a card with a disembodied hand holding a stick, a card with a lonely black cloaked person surrounded with five cups, and a man carrying a bunch of sticks, ten of them. “It looks like you’re going to have a new action or idea, a new responsibility, and some type of loss or despair,” she pointed. 

Ross kissed her cheek. “I hope I don’t lose you,” he said.

“I hope I’m not your ten of wands,” she frowned. Then, she gathered her cards and shuffled her deck once again. Then, she placed three cards, ace of cups, two of cups, and four of swords. “Apparently, I’m going to have some R-and-R time while I fall in love, again.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Ross asked, hugging onto her again, his legs wrapping around to make a basket of his legs for her to settle into. He was hopeful that her answer would be positive. He wanted to rub his hands on her body while she told him how much she loved him, but instead he waited while she phrased her feelings.

“I guess at this point, I see what love is to me, and what it is to other people,” she said, just above a whisper, “And I don’t want much more to do with it anymore.” 

Ross could feel his heart twist in his chest. Did last night mean nothing? Was her kisses disingenuous? Were there no feelings on her half?

“I don’t see a reason to fall back in love,” she said, gathering her cards back into the neat deck and setting them down on her dresser. She looked over at Ross with pride and love in her eyes. “Everything is great with you. If I fell in love with you, then you’d turn into an asshole, like everyone else,” she sang cheerily, “and I’d really rather you stay your genuine, nice, sweet, wonderful self.”

Ross knew that whatever happened now, he needed to have her all to himself, and he needed to find a way to show her that he could still love her, and have her love him, all without him turning into an asshole.

 

**_A Swirl of Emotions_ **

Ross firmly believed that every bad had a good to it. Example, although Lucy was abused into submission and is showing signs that she’s disenchanted by relationships in general now, he was blessed to be able to have her in his life. There she was, baking brownies in the kitchen. This wouldn’t have happened if all the boyfriends she had before were nice and respectful to her. It still sucks, and it’s horrible that she was mistreated so horribly, but now he was able to have her, and take care of her. Ross really wanted to shower her with love and care.

Lucy, feeling the care that Ross was giving her and unsure of how to handle this sudden attention and love, started falling into her mother’s old habits. She started baking, the way her mother did when she wanted to give her father a surprise. She started trying to fix her hair as best she could, but found herself unsure of how to manage her hair. She cooked dinner like she watched her mother do. She was slowly becoming her mother, just as she had done every time  she started living with someone else. She was sure it was what her parents taught her, a nice and kind way of showing her gratitude, but she wasn’t totally sure that it wasn’t her way of showing she wasn’t useless. 

Ross snuck into the kitchen to steal a bit of brownie batter. “This tastes amazing,” he moaned, finger still in his mouth. He went to steal another bit but was stopped.

“I’ll be even better when it’s cooked and doesn’t have the chance of getting you sick as a pug,” she suggested, “could you preheat the oven for me?”

Ross pressed the buttons on the oven. “Oh, this place is gonna smell like brownies!” He hummed again, a mix of excitement and delight. “It’s gonna be delicious, I can just tell.” He waited by the oven and watched her as she poured the mix into the glass pan. “So, what’s the occasion?”

“I just wanted to do something nice,” she said, sprinkling chocolate chips into the mix. “Do you not like brownies?”

“No, I like brownies,” he said, “and I’ll eat anything that you make me.”

She giggled. That giggle cause Ross to impulsively hug onto her, kissing her cheek, squeezing her into him. She giggled even more, which encouraged his hands to wander on her back, pressing them chest to chest. One hand twisted itself in her hair, another rubbed her back. His kisses moved from her cheek to his neck, backing her into the counter. Her giggles rang out once more, which lead Ross into seizing her lips, lifting her off of her feet and pressing their pelvises together. Her tongue tasted like coffee and sugar. He felt the counter behind her, finding nothing, then pushed her down onto it.

Lucy reached up to hold his cheeks, as if it was the only bit of control she could have over this. She felt like she was caught in a riptide, being pulled violently out to sea, and the worst part of it all was that she loved every second of it. She felt like she was flying, like she was floating on water, like she was in space surrounded by stars. She could feel herself melting under his touch, a strong desire to pull him into her further. Their tongues swirled about and his hip grinded into hers. From her point of view, his phone was pressing buttons that it shouldn’t be. From his point of view, he felt great and she was loving every movement.

The two jumped once the oven dinged. Ross clambered off of her and fixed his shirt, trying to brush the wrinkles off of his clothes. She shook her head, trying to gather her wits about her again. She stuttered and stammered until words returned to her benefit. “You have a live stream tonight soon, right?” she said, “are you ready for that?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” he said, clearing away his mind fog quickly. “I should get ready for that, I’ll be in the other room, shout if you need me, okay?”

“I’ll shout if I need you, yeah,” Lucy agreed, nodding. She seemed as if she was still deep within the mind-fog, still living in that intoxicating moment. It took all of her energy not to jump onto him and continue their moment, but mainly he was the one struggling to keep his cool. She lifted the cool glass pan of brownie mix and shuttled it into the oven.

Ross left the room and hurried into the bathroom just in time to lose his cool. He could only imagine how he left Lucy feeling. Was she hot and bothered? Was she touching herself? Was she imagining that kiss? Was she wishing that it would have continued?

Lucy, on the other hand, stared at the oven wondering how she could have possibly fallen in love with Ross.

 

**_Brilliant Brownies Baked Best_ **

The brownies were baked to perfection. The top was flakey, but it was gooey and sweet and moist and perfect. The kitchen smelled like brownies, just as Ross said. The scent drifted through the rooms and into Ross’s bedroom, where he was live streaming, drawing and talking with the people watching the live streams. He was trying to focus on the chat, but favored the smell of enticing brownies over some of the comments flying by.

Lucy watched as the steam drifted up into the air and disappeared. The steam slowly filed out until the last steam vapor was free from the brownie pan. She didn’t bother cutting the brownies into pieces. No matter how hard she focused on the brownies in front of her, she couldn’t get her mind off of Ross. The way he smiled at her, the way he was supportive of her, the way he held onto her, the way he held onto her as if she was going to fall. Most importantly, she loved the way that he made her feel. When was the last time that she felt safe with someone? When was the last time that she enjoyed someone’s company like this? When was the last time that someone she shared a bed with was someone that she felt comfortable with?

Her heart dropped. She had fallen in love with Ross. Her head spun and she felt herself hold desperately onto the cold counter. Why had she so carelessly fallen in love? How could she let herself fall in love again? She felt herself panic. She grabbed at her chest, then at her head. She felt like her head was floating. She felt like she was about to hyperventilate.

The sound of a loud thump was what startled Ross, but he remained chill on his live stream regardless. “That didn’t sound good,” he said to the viewers, “I’m gonna go check that out.” So, he paused the stream, turning off the mic and fixing the camera so he could leave without the camera showing every last detail of his room.

Once he emerged from the room, he saw Lucy lying on the ground of the kitchen. “Lucy,” he asked carefully, approaching and sitting down next to her. “Are you okay?”

She looked up at him, but stayed on the ground. “Yeah, I was awake when I fell, I’m good.”

Ross wasn’t convinced. He picked her up and carried her to their bedroom, laying her on the bed and walking to the closet. “I remember that we gotta keep your feet elevated and get you back to normal,” he said, lifting pillows and carrying them back. “Are you gonna be okay if I keep live streaming?”

“Sure,” she said, “I’d love to listen, but I think I’m gonna rest my eyes.” She looked over at the computer screen, then the camera. “Could I not be a part of the video capture, though?”

Ross nodded, walking over to adjust the camera to get the bed totally out of focus. “If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to, but you won’t really turn up on the audio, I bet,” he said. He looked back over at Lucy. “How do you feel, honey?”

“I feel okay, at the moment,” she answered, “but I guess I’m done for the day.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay if I finish the live stream?” Ross asked again.

“Only if you promise that you’ll try one of my brownies and not hold my trying to pass out against it,” she said. “I think you’ll really like them, I hope so, anyway.”

“I’m sure I will, but I want to finish the live stream first,” he said, “it’ll be a treat for when I’m done.” He walked back over to her, sitting down on the bed with her for a brief second. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell her, but he wanted to have her feel better. At a loss of words, he decided to press a kiss against her lips. “I love you,” he said without much thought.

As he finished the live stream, Lucy watched until her eyes grew heavy and closed. She slept waiting for him to tell her once again that he loved her. She fell asleep before she could feel him press another kiss on her nose.

 

**_Ross Talks With Suzy_ **

Ross wasn’t sure if he was able to get Lucy to ease out of her state of mind. She seemed too planted within her ways, and although it was understandable, it was unfortunate and inconvenient. Where Ross saw potential, Lucy saw nothing. Where Ross saw talent, Lucy saw nothing. Where Ross could see anything within Lucy, she failed to see it within herself. Between Henry and Frankie, they had turned her into a woman who couldn’t find any sort of self-assurance. It was beginning to rub off on him.

“Suzy,” he whined, “I don’t know how to get her to see that I’m not a prick like those other assholes!” He was curled up on the grump couch, snuggling a pillow. He huffed and puffed dramatically, but he was genuine in his distress. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“You aren’t doing anything wrong,” Suzy comforted, calmly scrolling through her phone, “she thinks the world of you.” 

“Then why is she equal parts fine with me being all romantic, but doesn’t want to date me?” Ross asked, “why is she fine with basically being a couple but not fine with actually being a couple?”

Suzy sighed. “Ross, please,” she said, “I know that you love her, and I know you want her to feel safe and everything, but you have to be patient with her.” Suzy set her down her phone and faced Ross more fully. “What you need to do is be persistent and nice like you’ve been doing.”

“What if she doesn’t actually like me, Suzy?” Ross whined. “What if she only likes me because I’m not an abusive asshole?”

“Maybe it started out like that, but it’s more complicated now,” Suzy said. “The way she talks about you makes you sound like the greatest guy on the planet. She thinks the world of you, and she’s so proud that you animate and draw and do live streams…”

Ross didn’t know that. “She really thinks that?” he asked.

Suzy nodded, passing her phone over to Ross to show her countless texts of Lucy’s roundabout praise. She had asked Suzy what to bake in order to thank Ross for all of his kindness. She asked Suzy how to thank Ross for taking care of her while he should have been live streaming. She asked Suzy what to do to thank Ross for taking her in. She asked Suzy what to do to make herself look cuter for Ross on their date. She asked all sorts of questions, and whenever Ross came up -and he came up in texts regularly- it was excruciatingly heartwarming. “She thinks the absolute world of you, Ross,” she said, “she loves you, she’s just a little scared that you’ll turn into another Henry.”

“I would never do that to her!” he huffed, gripping his chest. “I could never hurt her! I can’t believe that anyone would think I would do that to her!”

“Ross, relax,” Suzy said, “you gotta chill.”

“How do I convince her that I’m not gonna be an asshole to her?” he asked Suzy.

Suzy smiled. “She already knows you aren’t going to be an asshole,” she said, “she’s just working out all the contradictions. Just give her all the love like you’ve been doing.” Suzy rubbed Ross’s back. “I promise, you’re so close now. Can you see it? She’s almost back to her normal self!”

“What if I can’t get her back to normal?” Ross whined, “What if I’m not good enough to help her out?”

Suzy groaned. “For the last time, Ross, she loves you. All you have to do is be there for her,” she snapped, “can you do that? Can you do that for her, Ross?”

Ross knew very well that he was able to be there for her. Without a doubt, he knew that he could be there and cherish her without question. He knew that he would be able to support her fully with everything she did. He knew that even if she didn’t love him, he would still support her in anything she wanted to do, and in anything she wanted to do. He was sure of it all. He was positive of it. “I know I can,” he said, “I can absolutely be there for her.”

Suzy stood up. “That’s all you have to do, Ross,” she said. She left Ross lying there, still cuddled with the pillow. He sat himself up as she left him alone, thinking about how important Lucy was to him.

 

**_Ross Loves Lucy_ **

Lucy had passed out moments before Ross returned home. She woke up with him holding onto her, concern painted his face. Her hands floated up to his cheeks to grab them, holding them in her hands, trying to study the face that was between them. She didn’t know who was there. She tried to sit herself up, but her blood-pressure sank once again, and just as she sat upright, she flopped onto Ross’s chest, eyes gently closed. She felt herself float for a minute, and couldn’t feel the ground for a while, but after a few minutes of that floating feeling, the ground was back under her, softer and more plush this time. 

Ross propped her feet up higher than usual. He watched as her dazed confusion slowly drained, and her mind seemed to return to her. “Ross,” she called, reaching over to him. “Ross? Ross…”

“I’m here,” he said, holding onto her hand. “I’m right here, see me?” He held her hand to his cheek, where he felt her fingers instinctively explore like they’ve done before, finding his lips, his jaw, and his hair. “I’m right here, Lucy,” he repeated.

She tried to pull his face down to hers, pressing their cheeks together. “I’m here, baby,” he whispered to her ear. “I’m not leaving.”

She swung her arms around his neck. She hugged onto him, keeping him held down next to him. “Stay,” she tried to whisper, forcing the words out of a hazed mind. “Stay?”

Ross climbed into bed with her, letting her hold onto him still. He snaked his arms around her body, holding her into him. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered into her ear, “do you hear me?” He started petting her hair, kissing the top of her head. “I’m here, I’m staying, I’m not going.”

Lucy snuggled her head into Ross’s chest. She whimpered, letting her arms loose from his neck to snuggle closer to Ross through hugging his midsection to her. Lucy hummed her gratitude, but groaned seconds after.

Her groans made Ross feel sick. Every whine and whimper felt like a knife into his chest. He wasn’t sure if she was in pain or simply just dizzy, but he hated every second of her dizzy noises. He held her tighter, keeping her feet elevated. He let her nuzzle and cuddle into him, hoping that she would feel better in his company. He hated not knowing what to do for her. He whispered more assurances that he figured she was really hearing. 

The next morning, after the two had fallen asleep in each others arms, they woke up in each others arms. Ross looked down at her face, her eyes still closed from sleep, and her breathing slow and steady. He pressed a kiss on her forehead and gently hugged her, holding her head into his chest, and rubbing her back. He could feel eyelashes fluttering open on his neck, and a deep breath later, she closed her eyes again. 

“Morning,” Ross whispered, pressing another kiss to her forehead.

She hugged onto him, a soft groan seeping through. She looked up at him, her eyes still filled with sleep. “Ross,” she moaned, pressing a weak kiss onto his neck, “Good morning.” She snuggled back into his neck and started to drift back to sleep.

“No, wake up,” he said, shaking her gently. She groaned in protest but he eventually saw her looking back up at him with more focus, confusion in her eyes. “How do you feel?” he asked. 

She looked more confused, as if she didn’t know what was going on. Then, she looked horrified. “Ross, I’m so sorry!” she apologized, looking as if she was about to cry. She clung onto his shirt, apologising frantically. 

He rubbed her back and played with her hair. “Please,” he begged, “you don’t need to apologize.” He kissed her forehead and hugged onto her. “If you’re feeling better, than I’m good too.”

“I’m fine now,” she answered, tears building up in her eyes, “I’m fine, I promise!” She wiped her eyes before any tears could fall. “Ross, I’m okay, I swear.”

“I just want you to know that I’m not mad,” he said, “I know full well that you think I’m mad at you, but I’m not.”

She hugged him once again. “I’m so sorry,” she cried. Her tears wet his shirt and stained his heart. Every sob set a new crack on his heart, and his face twisted in pain. Every shaky breath sank his heart further into his stomach, which tied itself into knots. The butterflies have died, and the glowing fireworks had passed. As much as he loved her, he couldn’t save her from her own learned behaviors. 

He kissed her quick. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, “I know you’re scared, but I’m right here for you.” He pressed another kiss onto her lips, then another, then another. Eventually, the two were speaking a new language. He was sharing the contents of his heart to her, and she was accepting every kiss. He pushed her around to have her sit on top of him while he kissed her, now both sitting up on the bed. He pulled her closer, his hands roaming her backside. Her frantic apologies turned into a mutual romantic conversation.

They both loved it.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Meeting Friends_ **

Ross had been working on a Mario Maker level that wouldn’t have Lucy burst into distraught tears for a while now. Arin had been planning a get-together for the Game Grump cast for a while as well. When Ross was finishing the little details of his level for Lucy, Arin announced the party, extending the invitation to Lucy as well. Ross suggested setting up Mario Maker for the levels, but Arin didn’t reply back fast enough for him. 

Lucy rushed into the room holding her phone out for Ross to see. “Suzy invited me to the Grump’s office party!” she cheered, “Suzy invited me to a party!”

Ross smiled. “Yeah, are you going?” 

Lucy seemed to pause, her smile dropping, her eyes widened. “Am I really allowed to?” she asked, “I thought they were only being nice.” She started to pace around the floor. “Ross, are you sure they aren’t just being nice? I don’t think they really want me there.”

“Of course they want you there!” Ross laughed, “If they didn’t want you there, Arin wouldn’t have asked me to take you!” Ross showed his phone to Lucy, who read the text invitation, seeing Arin specifically request that Lucy come. “Lucy, they want to see you. You’ve made so much progress, they can’t wait to see you.”

Lucy looked up at Ross, staring into his eyes for a brief moment before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “If you’re sure-”

“I’m positive,” Ross interrupted, “Please, let me take you?”

Lucy agreed, and in less than a week, found herself in the grump’s office space with people she didn’t really know. She kept close to Ross, who led her over to Suzy so he could briefly goof off with his other friends. Suzy pointed and commented with every weird or awkward movement the boys did, causing small giggles from Lucy.

Suzy loved Lucy. Suzy took a selfie with her, then asked Barry to take a picture of them both together, then got another picture, then another picture, then another picture. Suzy smiled with pride, showing every single picture to Lucy and posting them on her instagram and twitter. “Look how gorgeous you are!” Suzy cooed, petting her hair. She nearly squealed, “You’re so cute! Ross better not hurt you or I’ll kill him.”

Lucy’s eyes widened and her body seemed to tighten and shrink.

“That was a joke,” Suzy corrected, “I’m sorry.”

When Ross returned to Lucy, he wrapped her up in a tight hug. “How’s Suzy?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“She seems fine,” Lucy answered, “but I’m sure you could ask her yourself.”

“I’m good, I just took a bunch of pictures with your girlfriend to put on instagram,” Suzy boasted. 

“Is that such a good idea?” Ross asked, one eyebrow raised.

“So long as the introduction is a gentle one,” Suzy explained, “I think she’ll do fine.”

Ross and Suzy nodded, leaving Lucy in the dark as to what was happening. The moment passed, and before any other questions could be asked, Arin had begun loudly speaking with Dan in his friendly way while approaching the three of them. “Why don’t you look at me while we have sex?” Arin loudly asked.

Danny laughed, but quickly collected himself and turned to Lucy. “Hi there, I’m Dan,” he said, offering his hand, “We’re friends of Ross, while he used to do Steam Train and Doodle Doods on Game Grumps.”

Lucy nodded and shared her name with him. 

Arin also collected himself and politely introduced himself. “I’m Arin, I made Game Grumps and hired Ross for whatever reason,” he said. After a pause, he offered, “I’m Suzy’s husband.”

Lucy nodded, sharing her name with him as well. Then, as they continued to walk away, returning to their loud normal selves, Ross bent over to ask, “What do you think?”

“Arin worries me,” she answered immediately. “It’s a red flag when people go from calm to excitable really fast, but I’ve never seen a man go from 60 to zero so quickly.” She pressed her side to Ross’s, keeping one hand on his chest and the other gripping the back of his shirt. “I don’t know what to think.”

Ross sighed, “I asked Arin to turn it way down for you, since I didn’t want him to scare you.” He looked over to Arin, making a face that screamed disappointment. He slowly shook his head and started mouthing something to him from across the room. Then he looked back down to Lucy. “Don’t worry about Arin, that’s just how he is. You can ask Suzy, he’s really harmless,” Ross explained, hugging onto her once again before leading her in front of a large TV.

 

**_Return of Mario Maker_ **

Mario Maker was a wonderful game made to let players express their creativity in wonderful ways. Ross used Mario Maker to torture and exhaust his friends in an enjoyable way, causing many fans a great deal of enjoyment from the pain of his friends, Ross being one of those to enjoy their pain. So, when he saw that a group of his friends had set up Mario Maker and were beginning to pass around the remote to see who could get the farthest in the level without dying, Ross was pleased to see more of his friends being stressed and discouraged in their abilities. 

Lucy looked from the failed attempts on Ross’s level and then back to Ross. She offered a weak smile. “I don’t feel as bad in my abilities anymore,” she whispered. 

“I promise, people have done worse than you,” Ross said, rubbing her back. He hoped that it could charge her up, make her feel more confident to be around his friends. He ended up letting her set her head gently against his chest. “You might even do better than Danny.”

“Definitely not Arin, though,” she said. “I remember what you said about him, how long it took for him to finish your level. There’s no way I could ever compare.”

He laughed. “Okay, maybe not as good as Arin, but still pretty good, I’d say.” Ross lazily pressed his lips to the top of her head, smelling her shampoo, his breaths growing slow and deep to take as much of her scent in as he could. “But you’re still pretty great,” he said.

“And why’s that?” she challenged, “They’re basically game experts, I can’t compete.”

“You got something they don’t,” Ross explained, “you can keep your chill about you. Dan and Arin can lose it pretty quick, especially playing my levels.”

“But they can at least play your levels,” Lucy argued, “I couldn’t get as far as the first part.”

“Sure, but I bet you if I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t have lost your cool at all,” Ross smiled down at her, watching as she slowly looked up to him, her soft blue eyes gazing up at his, flakes of green shining up at him.

One of the people playing screamed in agony as they lead their Mario to fall into a pit of lava. Lucy jumped, her head darting to the person who screamed, moving closer to Ross’s side again. He hugged her back, letting himself stand as a pillar of protection. The person looked back at Ross, their eyes forming a sharp glare filled with hate and resentment. “God damn it, Ross,” they hissed, passing the remote over to the next person. The next person groaned as if they were genuinely being tortured. 

Ross smiled widely. He looked down at Lucy to see her look up with her face painted in concern. He smiled down at her, melting her worries away. He was filled with pride in his levels, so unreasonably hard that they caused grown men and women to weep from distress and pain. So unreasonably hard that they caused adults to fall back onto old playground rules, damning their torturer. Their minds so twisted from the stress and panic that their insults had devolved into unintelligible garbles of curses. The emotional pain was revived twice as strong with every returning touch to the remote. Ross’s chest filled with the pride of a father whose son just scored his first touchdown. His smile was ingrained on his face. He was happy.

Suzy joined them silently and passed Ross her phone. She took Lucy away to the kitchen and began talking more girl talk. Ross looked at Suzy’s phone, reading each comment under the posted picture of her and Lucy. 

They were positive, but pointed. Nearly every one bluntly asked if the girl next to Suzy was Ross’s girlfriend, which wouldn’t have been a problem, until he read “the abused one he’s manipulating, right?”

 

**_Angry Ross_ **

Ross felt like punching a hole through a wall, but bottled and suppressed it pretty well. He remembered the last time he punched the wall, when he was young and lived in Australia still. The wall won. Additionally, he couldn’t do anything that would scare Lucy, especially when she was so close to being free from her trauma. So, like a mature adult, he allowed his anger to consume him for the rest of the party, as one does.

Suzy pulled Ross to the side before he left with Lucy. “I thought you needed to see them,” she said, “before Lucy saw them. I know how much you care about her, I’ll let you two handle this. I won’t say anything unless you tell me to.”

Ross hugged Suzy. “Thank you,” he said. “If you want to, could you talk her up? Tell everyone how much better she’s been doing in a vague but overly-proud-mom way?”

Suzy smiled. “I’m so glad I could watch her grow back into the confident woman I knew she could be when I first took her shopping,” she said, “I’m so glad she had a guy like Ross with her.”

“That’s perfect,” Ross squeezed before releasing her back to Arin. He hurried back with Lucy, who waited patiently by the car door, watching a butterfly rest its wings as it chilled on the car. “Ready to go?” he asked, charging into the driver’s seat and buckling. 

Lucy was quiet the whole ride home, which was normal. What wasn’t normal was she was looking at Ross, watching his face slowly turn red, watching his jaw tighten and fix shut, watching his eyebrows lower and his eyes glared forward. 

“I’m sorry,” Lucy apologized instinctively. “I’m not sure what I’ve done, but I’ll be careful not to do anything-”

“It’s not you, Lucy,” Ross interrupted quietly, forcing himself to stay calm. “Suzy posted a cute picture of you two and some people commented-” He forced himself to take a breath. He was losing his chill, growing more and more frustrated. “I love the lovelies, the majority are nice and supportive people, but the few that are assholes or insensitive I just…” He gripped the steering wheel at a loss for words.

“...find it frustrating?” Lucy offered.

“Yes!” he shouted, “It’s like they live for the drama!”

“Some people are like that,” Lucy calmly stated, “it’s just how they live.”

The two piled out of the car and walked into his apartment. “I just don’t want you to be exposed to all of that harsh and stupid side of the fans. I want you to be there for the true lovelies, not the ones that are insensitive assholes.”

“Thank you, Ross,” Lucy said, hugging onto his arm, “but I don’t think you need to worry. I’ve dated harsh and insensitive assholes. I’ve got thicker skin than you think, especially for people I don’t really know.”

Ross looked over to her. She was watching Orph slowly approach. She looked as if the whole world had come about a golden age, filled with world-wide peace and prosperity. She looked at Orph as if she was a mother, and Orph her child. She looked more than just happy, she looked content and calm, and with her peace and her words, Ross’s anger quickly melted. “You’re right,” he said, “plus, I’ve got your back no matter what.”

She smiled for a brief second, then her brows lowered and her eyes fixed more sternly to Ross’s cat. “Orph is sick,” she reported, her head tilting to the side and her mouth frowning. “Orph, you okay?”

Orph started coughing, as if he was going to throw up a hairball.

Ross quickly scooped up his cat and hurried him to the linoleum. There wasn’t any hairball, though. “I don’t think I’m in the mood to stream,” Ross said, sitting down with Orph.

Lucy joined him. Wordlessly, she rested her head against his shoulder. “A cat with a cold,” she mused. “You think he would have stayed warm with all that fur he has.”

Ross smiled, turning his head and kissing her head. He watched as she turned to face him more. She leaned in to him, and he seized the moment and her lips. Her hands rested on the floor on either side of Ross, and she set herself in between his legs. She was still smaller than Ross, and although she was in a position that made her seem like she was in control, Ross knew he could easily shift the balance of power back to him.

He couldn’t bring himself to do it, though. 

 

**_Sick Cats_ **

Lucy was right, Orph was sick. Orph ate his food and sneezed with every bite. Orph cuddled with Ross and sneezed on his shirt. Ross played with Orph until it was interrupted with another coughing fit from Orph. Kitty asthma was out the window, the new theory was that Orph had kitty bronchitis. Ross scheduled an appointment with the vets and let him sleep in his bed with Lucy and himself. The next morning, Ross took Orph to the vet. Lucy stayed home.

The theory was right. After a simple checkup and an emergency X-ray, the veterinarian explained that Orph had a bit of growing bronchitis. The vet was happy that Ross had brought Orph in early, since it seemed as if it would worsen quickly. After a few more hours at the vets, Ross could take Orph home with medicine, one-a-day for a week, and Orph would be better in no time.

When Ross arrived home, he was startled to find no trace of Lucy. He set his cat free. Orph immediately rushed to find Lucy. Ross followed Orph into his room, where Lucy hadn’t moved since Ross left that morning. The two boys sat on the bed, waking her up suddenly. “Morning,” Ross said with a smile, “we’re back.”

“Oh, my lovely boys,” Lucy smiled, brushing the sleep from her eyes. “How are my boys?”

“We were right,” Ross said, “Orph has bronchitis, of all things.” 

Lucy laughed. “Oh, don’t feel bad, Orph,” she said, setting him in her lap. “I remember once, I caught bronchitis so bad, it developed into pneumonia.” 

She changed and started to make breakfast, Ross struggling to get Orph to take his medicine already, but excited for his live stream tonight. “I’m gonna update a few of the older characters so they look more like the newer ones,” he said. “Do you want to be with me? It’s gonna be really chill, I promise.”

“Maybe, I’m not sure,” Lucy said, setting the table for breakfast. “I don’t think I feel very well.”

“Are you okay?” Ross asked, “Do you also have bronchitis?” 

Lucy laughed, “I hope not!” Then, she turned her back to Ross. He could see in the window reflection that she looked genuinely concerned. She looked as if she was about to decide who lived or died, that type of stress. She looked really worried, and Ross hadn’t seen that for a while. 

He finally got Orph to take the pill. He stood and hugged her from behind. “I think you’re the best woman in the world,” he whispered into her ear, “and if you’d let me show you off as my girlfriend I would be the luckiest man on Earth.”

She laughed. “Ross, no,” she said, “I love you too much. I’m not going to date you and turn you into another asshole.”

Ross was understandably floored. The woman he had adored and kissed was refusing him on the grounds of not wanting him to be an asshole. They were practically dating already. They slept in the same bed divided only by air. They shared the apartment. They ate meals together. They spent time together. Ross even watched as she edited large swaths of articles and chapters of novels he’s never heard of. With all of that said, and with all of the progress that she’s made, she was still convinced that she was at fault for turning all of those guys into assholes. It broke Ross’s heart, but he was determined. “I’m gonna make you fall in love with me,” he mused, kissing her cheek, “but I won’t make you sit in for the live stream if you don’t want to.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

And so she thought. Ross watched as she read, but the page never turned. He was on his phone, scrolling through Instagram, seeing all of the adorable fan-art of his monster girls. He posted a few on his story, careful to give credit to the creators.

Eventually, later that evening, Ross was setting up his stream. He asked one last time if she wanted to be a part of it. He walked to the living room to find her curled into a ball on the floor, Orph sitting close by. He rushed over to her to find she was awake. “Are you okay?” he asked, but she was quiet, she blinked, but didn’t seem to notice he was there, or feel him shaking her. 

Ross carried her down to the car and rushed her to the hospital. He texted Suzy to let her know what was happening. 

He carried her in his arms to the reception desk of the hospital. They immediately sat her in a wheelchair and rushed her all around until she was eventually sitting in a bed with an oxygen mask on her face. 

Suzy and Arin met up with them there.

 

**_More Than A Cold_ **

Ross was panicked and in shock. He was convinced he should have noticed sooner that she wasn’t well. She never stayed in bed that long, after all. If he had noticed quicker, she wouldn’t have an oxygen mask at the moment. The nurses visited every ten minutes, checking to see her fever slowly drop, her body slowly rehydrate, and her CO2 levels slowly dropping. The nurse explained that high CO2 was bad, which Ross didn’t know. Suzy and Arin hovered on either side of his shoulders, patting and reassuring that he wasn’t at fault, and that she would be fine.

One of the nurses announced her temperature every time she took it. The first time was One-o-five, the second one-o-four point six, then slowly down and even slower down until she said finally, “Ninety-nine point two!”

“Ninety-nine point two what?” Lucy asked, opening her eyes slowly. 

Everyone could have cheered with excitement. The nurse smiled, encouraging everyone to remain calm. “Your fever is down from one hundred and five degrees fahrenheit. Do you know where you are?”

“Where’s Ross?” Lucy asked.

“I’m over here,” Ross said, standing up quickly and sitting on the side of her bed. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Where are we?” Lucy asked, looking around the room. Her eyes found Suzy and Arin, but she didn’t have the strength to wave back at them. 

“You’re in the hospital,” the nurse replied, “you caught pneumonia. Can you tell me when your symptoms started?”

“This morning,” Lucy answered. “I’m not supposed to get pneumonia, I left Maryland because of pneumonia!” she argued, “last time I got pneumonia I almost died.”

“How fast did you get pneumonia last time? How long ago?” the nurse asked.

Lucy ignored her. “Come to think of it, I left Maryland because everything there was trying to kill me. The grass, a boyfriend, pneumonia…”

“Ma’am, how long ago was the last time you had pneumonia?” the nurse asked again, much more stern than before. 

“It was a year or two ago,” Lucy answered. “I caught it and it all happened in two days, the second day after work I was driving to the doctors office and pulled over for a minute and woke up in a hospital hooked up to an oxygen thing.” Then, she paused and touched her fingers to her face, finding the same oxygen mask that she had worn before. She looked as if she was about to cry.

After the questions stopped, Ross made a brief announcement on Twitter, apologizing that the stream was, again, cancelled. He asked people to send Lucy their well-wishes and set his phone down. Arin and Suzy had gone back home for bed, but announced on their Twitter accounts their well-wishes in hopes others follow suit. Lucy had shut her eyes, but her lashes were damp. She was breathing deeply into her oxygen mask. “How do you feel?” Ross asked, hoping she was still awake.

“I feel stupid,” Lucy answered. “I feel weak and dumb and Suzy and her husband saw me looking stupid and weak and dumb.”

“I don’t think so,” Ross answered. “I was really scared for a while there, but Suzy and Arin were convinced you were gonna be fine,” he said, sitting down on the bed with her. “I think they knew you were going to wake up being your normal self.”

“I’m sorry, Ross,” she said. “Can we not tell Orph that he might have given me pneumonia on accident?”

Ross giggled. Then, he bent over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

Her eyes darted open. “Ross, no, you’ll catch my super-pneumonia too!” Her eyes were damp, as if she was about to start crying with any second. Her nose looked red. Her lips seemed to tremble slightly. “Don’t let me get you sick, too,” she begged.

“I’d be honored to take your super-pneumonia,” Ross said. “Here, give me half of it. It’ll be easier for you to get better that way.”

“That’s not how it works, Ross!” Lucy giggled. 

“Sure it is!” Ross argued playfully. “We can also play those higher-vibration things to kill the bad vibrations that your pneumonia is putting off, thereby killing it.”

“Ross, no,” she laughed.

“I love you so much,” Ross said, taking her into a big, gentle hug. “I’m gonna love you until one of us dies from pneumonia.”

“That’s not funny!” she laughed. 

 

**_Home Sweet Home_ **

“I wasn’t joking,” Ross said, unlocking the door for Lucy. Orph greeted them both with a happy meow. “I really will love you until one of us dies.”

“That’s what they all say,” Lucy giggled.

“Sure, sure,” Ross agreed, “but I actually mean it.”

“You only think you love me,” Lucy said. “You don’t have to. It’s okay to not love me. I’m fine on my own.”

“Well yeah, but I need you,” Ross gently argued. “When I saw you were on the ground there I almost died on the spot.”

“So did I,” Lucy smiled.

“I love you,” Ross said insistently. “I promise, I’ll make you the happiest woman on Earth if you let me.”

“Ross, you may feel this way now, but soon after you won’t,” she argued. “Trust me, I’ve done this before.”

Ross held her hips. “I need you, Lucy,” he begged. “I need you so much.” He pulled her hips into his, hugging her tightly. He kissed her ear. “I love you so much, I can’t live without you.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Lucy said, trying to push him away from her. “You won’t actually feel like this in a week of dating.”

“I’ll still feel like this even if I marry you!” he said. “I can’t imagine my life without you.” He grabbed her cheeks, looking down at her.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were big and dewey. She looked as if she was ready to cry, but spoke so calmly and sure of herself. In reality, what Ross was saying was moving her, even if she did refuse to admit it. Even now, she was speechless.

He, too, had run out of words. He bent down to press a kiss to her lips. It melted in with another kiss, which melted in with a third, then a fourth, then it was impossible to tell the difference between all of the kisses. Ross’s hands dropped from her cheeks, one hand around her waist and the other up in her hair. He pulled her closer to him, letting her hands feel around his back. Her icy fingers went under his shirt and started stealing his warmth. He walked her to the bedroom and shut the door behind them, leaving Orph to sleep on the couch.

“You’ll get sick,” she weakly protested, pulling him by the belt closer to him. 

He decided the belt was in the way, as well as his shirt. He pulled it off and threw it somewhere. Then, he undid his belt and set it on his nightstand. He walked her backwards, eventually having her sit on the bed. He pulled her shirt over her head, then climbed on top of her. “Stop me if you feel like you’re going to pass out,” he said, kicking his pants off of his legs. He started kissing her neck, pressing himself between her legs so they wouldn’t jerk up and kick him somewhere painful. She twitched under him, her hands holding his head to her neck and his chest closer to him. He unbuttoned her pants and yanked them off of her, her undies removed with them. He removed his as well.

She moaned in his ear, something hard pressed against her. He twisted her head and managed to get him to kiss her lips for a while, but she still moaned. She tasted hospital coffee on his tongue, but that wasn’t why she was moaning. 

He separated their mouths for a brief moment. “Tell me if you want to stop, okay?” He watched her as his hand traveled on her body, reaching a spot where she twitched and moaned. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Ross,” she moaned, “Ross!”

He let himself be pulled back down to her lips, seizing them once more with the passion of Greek lovers. He pushed himself into her once again, earning a louder moan. If he was at all worried about receiving a noise complaint, that fear was long behind him now. He grinded himself against her, feeling her grow more prepared for him. He rose off of her to get a rubber from the nightstand, an indignant whine rang from Lucy. He quickly and carefully tore free the rubber and skillfully slip himself into it. He looked back at her, bathed in moonlight and looking gorgeous and nude. She was breathing hard, but she looked back at him as if waiting for a reward.

He jumped back onto her, kissing her collar once before aligning himself to push inside of her. He looked down at her. Before asking if she was ready he watched her nod. A silent agreement between the two. He slowly pushed into her, a shiver ran up his spine. He felt as her entire body squirmed and tightened. She moaned louder than he could ask if she was still okay, and he watched as her face mixed with pain and pleasure. She looked up at him, pressing her lips together and letting lustful hums escape her. He pressed a kiss to her nose, before slowly thrusting into her. She bit her lip, trying not to moan, before giving in. The reached up and pulled Ross’s head down to hers, passing his lips and kissing his neck with the same passion he had given her. 

He held her hips in place so he could better buck himself into her. In his mind, he was ecstatic. It was just like the first time. He was absolutely thrilled he was finally inside of her! She was twisting and squirming and moaning all for him. Her back arched up off of the bed and when she finally relaxed, she began kissing his neck. Small kisses turned into sloppy ones, where he could feel her moaning against her neck, her tongue running up his neck. He was letting a string of curses fly as if he was a salty sea captain. Her legs moved to help encourage him to push further within her, which caused her legs to twitched and her moans to stir within him.

Her body shuddered and her legs closed around his hips. She pulled their lips together but after a brief moment her tongue was also caught up in the shudder that took her whole body. Her head flung to the side and a girly sigh fled her lips, then another in quick succession. She gripped at the blanket under her, shakily pulling it towards her as it twisted in her fist. Her eyes opened to roll back as her lashes fluttered. Her breathing was fast and shallow, and for a moment he was worried she would pass out. Then, her whole body relaxed and she was left to huff to catch her breath.

He collapsed next to her, tying the condom off and throwing it in the garbage with perfect aim. “How do you feel?” he asked, “Are you okay?”

“My legs feel like jello,” she said. “Is that normal?”

Ross looked at her, her eyes half-lidded and body physically exhausted. “You’ve never done that before, have you?”

Lucy shrugged. “Not really, no.”

Ross smiled. “Then it’s official,” he said, softly kissing her cheek as he snuggled with her again. Her hands touched his chest and started tracing patterns on them. “You’re my girlfriend,” he decided, “and I’m going to make you the happiest woman on Earth.”

“That sounds like a marriage proposal,” she whispered.

“I’ll marry you, too,” Ross kissed. “One day. But for tonight and the future, you’re my girlfriend. You’re all mine.”

“So long as you play nice,” she sighed happily, snuggling into his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Play Nice  
> A Ross O’Donovan Fanfiction
> 
> ACT 1 - 3972 words  
> ACT 2 - 3567 words  
> ACT 3 - 4411 words  
> ACT 4 - 4788 words  
> ACT 5 - 5047 words  
> TOTAL - 21,810 words
> 
> “ROSS” count - 374 (365 w/o titles) / 21,810 total  
> “LUCY” count - 180 (179 w/o titles) / 21,810 total


End file.
